Entry · catalog no. 0890
smoke
/ /smoʊk/ /SMOHK
noun · Atlanta; nationwide · 2010s
✓ Verified
1.
Conflict, confrontation, beef — physical, verbal, or competitive. To want smoke is to want it; no smoke declines it; all the smoke accepts every bit on offer.
“Keep talking sideways and you gon' find out who really want the smoke.”
Origin & Attribution
African-American Vernacular English, popularized out of Atlanta. In street use since at least the early 2010s, likely from the older verb sense of smoke — gunfire, or to defeat decisively. Atlanta rap fixed the phrasing: 21 Savage's "All the Smoke" (2017) and Lil Yachty's "Who Want the Smoke?" (2018) carried it national.
early 2010s
In street use around Atlanta
2017
21 Savage's All the Smoke fixes the phrasing on record
2018
Who Want the Smoke? makes it a national challenge
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Atlanta; nationwide · 2010s
Spoken by
Atlanta streets and rap, then nationwide
$SMOKEThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady9 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
78/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2017
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
21 Savage, All the Smoke, Slaughter Gang
2017
■
Lil Yachty feat. Cardi B and Offset, Who Want the Smoke?
2018
■
+ Cite a sourceMerriam-Webster slang notes on smoke
2020s
See also